AFTER SCHOOL programs - FALL 2017
jewelry design
Mondays, 3:30pm - 5:30pm | Ages 8 - 14 | September - October 2017
Beading, metalwork, and wiretapping.
Taught by: Zebi Williams.
In this after school design studio, we came together to hand-make our own earrings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants. Students learned basic design concepts and the techniques of beadwork, metalwork, and wire-wrapping, taking their hobbies a step further by learning professional tricks of the trade. Once they became comfortable with the materials and techniques, students were led through a design process to create their own jewelry lines, taking into consideration “brand identity, look, and feel.”
DESIGN RECLAIM
Tuesdays, 3:30am - 5:30pm | Ages 8 - 14 | November - December 2017
Reclaiming materials to design and build furniture.
Taught by: Elise McMahon.
In this after school lab, students were empowered as designers, makers, problem-solvers and world citizens. Working with artist Elise McMahon, we explored the idea of resourceful design: looking critically at the amount of waste produced in the world, and imagining new industries to keep bi-products of manufacturing out of landfills. We built seesaws out of rubber tires, visited our fabrication factory DigiFab and built chairs out of their scrap wood, and created bedroom lamps out of trash and the odds and ends we found at Kite’s Nest.
WISEBODIES: KNOW!
Thursdays, 3:30am - 5:30pm | Ages 12 - 14 | September - December 2017
Open, honest and fun sexuality education.
Taught by: Isa Coffey with Olivia Williams.
Isa from WiseBodies joined us each week to learn about the sexual/reproductive body through activities, games, and conversations. We asked, what do we know about the body? What don’t we know? How are our bodies constructed, and how do they change? This was a weekly space for honest communication, laughter, and wide-open, fearless learning.
EXPLORATORIUM
Wednesdays, 3:30am - 5:30pm | Ages 5-7 | September - December 2017
Creative exploration, arts, performance and play.
Taught by: Heylan Tsumagari.
Our weekly exploratorium is a space for creative exploration and play, with Promise Neighborhood. Each week, we engaged our hands and bodies in a group activity: we made kites, clay puppets, shadow puppets, and story scrolls. We made our homemade herbal lip balm and fire cider. We went to the river to skip stones and get our toes wet, and to collect driftwood to make art mobiles. We even had a disco party, and a Mad Hatter Tea Party!
WAYFINDERS
Wednesdays, 3:00pm - 6:00pm | Ages 8 - 14 | September - December 2017
Outdoor, live action role playing, fantasy, and adventure.
Taught by: visiting educators from the Wayfinder Experience.
This program was run by The Wayfinder Experience, a live-action, role-playing organization that explores outdoor team-building, cooperative gaming, and improvisational theater. Students dressed in costumes each week, with large foam swords at their sides. The class culminated in an epic quest from the Basilica to the Waterfront, in search of Magic Elixirs, Fair Warriors, and Valiant battles that would help them each complete their Hero’s Journey.
MAKER SPACE: ROBOTICS
Thursdays, 3:00pm - 6:00pm | Ages 8 - 14 | September - December 2017
Immersion into the world of robots, automation, and machine control.
Taught by: Albert Flores, Bryan Lauas, and others from the Catskill Maker Syndicate.
In this after school robotics club, the Catskill Maker Syndicate led students in an exploration of electronics and circuity. Students learned coding basics using Arduino, working together to create a relatively complex device - an “arcade” game. We also took on the challenge of repairing household items -- a toaster, a vacuum -- and we experimented with 3D printing.
WISEBODIES: BOTANY & THE BODY
Thursdays, 3:00pm - 6:00pm | Ages 8 - 11 | September - November 2017
What can plants and flowers teach us about our bodies?
Taught by: Lia Friedman.
Botany and the Body was an outdoor, movement-based introduction to the whole human being and body. Together we learned about human anatomy and physiology through flowers and plants, and engaged in conversations to ask: How are our bodies constructed? How can food and movement support us?
ROOTS & REBELS GARDEN CLUB
Fridays, 3:00pm - 6:00pm | All ages | September - October 2017
Getting our hands dirty at the River City Garden!
We met up Friday afternoon in the early Fall to grow our own plants, make our own soil, tend to our own garden and eat our own food. We examined the insects and microbes in our soil, harvested vegetables that we had planted earlier in the summer, cut flowers, made observations about what’s happening in our garden, and took breaks to play games and each snacks. The Roots and Rebels Program was funded in part by the generous support of the United Way of Columbia and Greene Counties and by the Green Pastures Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
SPACE 2.0
Fridays, 4:00pm - 7:00pm | 13 + | September - December 2017 (ongoing)
A weekly space for Hudson teens. Explore your interests, go on field trips, share meals, be community leaders.
Led by: Sharece Johnson
Space 2.0 is a space for teenagers in Hudson to have as their own. It’s a place where teenagers can explore their own interests, share meals together, go on field trips, and develop the skills to be leaders within their own lives and communities. This Fall we had a Cupcake Challenge; traveled to hear Cornell West speak at the Omega Institute; had a paint night and a milkshake night; helped to host a public event at the River City Garden; baked cupcakes to sell at the Hudson Winter Walk, and made our own lipgloss! Each week we also had a Youth Council Meeting where we discussed our goals for the program.
